Santiago Ruiz Albariño 2025

Santiago Ruiz is one of the founding names of Rías Baixas, remembered as the first to bottle and sell Albariño, and the winery still sits near the mouth of the Miño in a seventeenth-century building beside a modern cellar. This white keeps the house blend of Albariño with Treixadura, Godello, Loureira Blanca and Caíño Blanco. The Atlantic climate is the defining factor: high rainfall, cool nights and coastal breezes give slow ripening and high natural acidity, while the sandy, granitic soils drain well and lend a saline minerality. The wine is made young in stainless steel with no oak, which keeps the fruit primary and the aromatics fresh, and the small proportion of aromatic varieties in the blend adds floral lift and complexity to the Albariño core. The colour is pale lemon with green flecks. The nose is bright and floral, with lemon, white peach and green apple over white flowers. The palate is crisp and juicy, its citrus and orchard fruit driven by high acidity and a saline, mineral finish. Serve well chilled at 8 to 10 degrees. It is a natural partner for shellfish and grilled fish.